title: marine corps operations in failing states author · 2011-05-14 · 2008 2. report type 3....
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United States Marine CorpsCommand and Staff College
Marine Corps University2076 South Street
Marine Corps Combat Development CommandQuantico, Virginia 22134-5068
MASTER OF MILITARY STUDIES
TITLE: MARINE CORPS OPERATIONS IN FAILING STATES
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENTOF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF MILITARY STUDIES
AUTHOR:MAl FRIDRIK FRIDRIKSSON
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGEAY 07-08
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Executive Summary
Title: Why it is important for the Marine Corps to begin operations in failing states.
Author: Major Fridrik Fridriksson, United States Marine Corps
Thesis: There are so many documents on engaging failing states produced by the White Hous~,
the Defense Department, the State Department and various other agencies that it becomes very
confusing to thread them all together. As the Marine Corps prepares to address these future
challenges little is focused towards the junior leaders.
Discussion: The purpose of this paper is to bring together the myriad of documents and try to do
the following:
1. Explain what a failing state is and explain how failing states are a danger to the United
States.
2. Give an overview of the United States government's plans to engage these failing states.
3. Discuss the Marine Corps's plan on how to support these governmental plans,
specifically the Security Cooperation Marine Air Ground Task Force (SCMAGTF).
4. Discuss key considerations that junior Marine leaders should be prepared for when
conducting operations in failing states.
Conclusion: The United States faces a new era of security challenges. Many of these
challenges will come from threats emanating within weak and failing states. Transnational
tenorism and criminal organizations will hide and operate in ungoverned spaces and in countries
that are not strong enough to defend themselves against these illicit actors. Disease, conflict,
famine and natural disasters can cause weak states to fail; these breakdowns can lead to
destabilization of entire regions. The United States is the only country capable of projecting the
power needed to train and assist these weak states to combat these destabilizing threats. It is
incumbent on the United States to begin engaging these countries and assisting them to fight
these threats. The Marine Corps can and will be an important element of this fight and the junior
leaders of the Marine Corps must be educated on these issues.
DISCLAIMER
THE OPINIONS AND CONCLUSIONS EXPRESSED HEREIN ARE THOSE OF THEINDIVIDUAL STUDENT AUTHOR AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THE
VIEWS OF EITHER THE MARINE CORPS COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGE OR ANYOTHER GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY. REFERENCES TO THIS STUDY SHOULD
INCLUDE THE FOREGOING STATEMENT.
QUOTATION FROM, ABSTRACTION FROM, OR REPRODUCTION OF ALL OR ANYPART OF THIS DOCUMENT IS PERMITTED PROVIDED PROPER
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IS MADE.
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Table of Contents
Page
DISCLAIMER ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iii
PREFACE iv
Engagement of Failing States 1
Problems Emanating from Failing Countries 2
The United States Government's Strategy on Engaging Failing States 5
How to employ the Marine Corps in these Failing States 11
The Dangers of Dealing with Failing States 17
CONCLUSIONS f 18
BIBLIOGRAPHy 20
APPENDIX 1: FAILED STATES INDEX MAP 22
APPENDIX 2: FAILED STATES WITH DEFENSE SCIENCE BOARD ESTIMATIONS FORTROOPS NEEDED 23
APPENDIX 3: DEFINITIONS OF GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS 24
APPENDIX 4: SECURITY COOPERATION MAGTF ORGANIZATION 25
APPENDIX 5: ARC OF INSTABILITY MAP 26
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Preface
In 2006, I was fortunate enough to hear some senior Marines discussing the troubles that were
coming from countries in the 'Arc of Instability'. This Arc encompasses the portions of the
world in which the countries are considered unstable due to numerous reasons. The borders of
the Arc of Instability are fluid, but they begin roughly in Central America, the Caribbean Basin,
parts of South America, extend to Africa up through the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan
and the fonner Soviet Socialist Republics of Central Asia right up to the Chinese border, then
through South East Asia, through Indonesia and Oceania. North Korea and the Philippines are
also part of the Arc. (See Appendix 5 for Arc of Instability map).
They discussed how the Marine Corps could be changed to operate in this new world of
transnational terrorism and international criminal organizations and in assisting failing states and
that the Marine Corps needed, as an institution to undertake these challenges. This conversation
really sparked my interest because I had been the Operations Officer for 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine
Regiment, during Operation SECURE TOMORROW in Haiti (one of the "failing states" that
were mentioned). I truly was fortunate to participate with my Battalion Commander, Colonel
(now BGen) D.H. Berger, as he formulated plans to improve the situation in Haiti. My thought
process was that if we kill or an-est criminals, we'll solve the problems. Col. Berger's thought
process rather focused on how to solve the Haitian people problems. Listening to Col. Berger
and my Regimental Commander, Colonel (now BGen) C.M. Gurganus, frame a campaign
design, then plan and execute operations to support their designs, was truly an education.
One of the most difficult issues we had was explaining what we were really doing to the young
Marines. This paper is written for the young NCOs and junior officers of the Marine Corps. My
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intent was to take the myriad of documents and directives that have been produced to give
guidance to the Marine Corps in the Global War on Terror and boil it down so it can be
understood by all Marines. It is important that the young leaders of the Marine Corps understand
the goals and directions of the United States government because the burden of carrying orders
out rests upon their shoulders. A failing state is a country that has failed or is failing in one or all
of four main areas; physical security, valid political institutions, economic management, and
social welfare infrastructure. These failures can come from a multitude of reasons; conflict,
ineffective government, governmental collapse, natural disaster or economic collapse. Assisting
failing states is in the strategic goals of the United States and the Marine Corps will be intimately
involved in these missions.
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Engagement of Failing States:
Why should the United States conduct operations in areas that have no real economic or other
apparent value to the United States? This is a question that is asked everyday and truthfully
there is no easy answer. There are references to ten-orists using these areas, humanitarian
concerns and a myriad of other issues. But why commit forces and money to these areas? "We
even we here- hold the power, and bear the responsibility." President Lincoln stated over 150
years ago, those who hold the power, bear the responsibility. The United States is now the only
country that is capable of projecting all elements of national power anywhere in the world. The
United States has the power, but is it the United States' responsibility to run the world? No. Is it
to keep our citizens and allies safe? Yes, and threats that are coming from failing states are a
clear danger. The United States must invest its forces and assets early into failing states or it will
pay the price later. It is much more economical to assist a state before it fails than to reconstruct
it after it has collapsed. The Marine Corps is a force that has a long and distinguished history of
assisting countries in need and can become a pillar in the United States policy towards assisting
failing states.
The term 'failing state' cannot be agreed upon by agencies in the United States Government and
it has dozens of definitions. For this paper, a failing state is a country that has failed or is failing
in one or all of four main areas: physical security, valid political institutions, economic
management, and social welfare infrastructure. These failures can come from a multitude of
reasons; conflict, ineffective government, governmental collapse, natural disaster or economic
collapse. This paper will review some of the problems emanating from failing countries, then
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discuss the strategy that has been put forward by the United States on ~ngaging failing states and
then discuss how to employ the Marine Corps into these failing states.
Problems emanating from failing countries
"In this world there is always danger for those who are afraid of it. " George Bernard Shaw
Shaw wrote, there is always danger out in the world and the United States has realized that the
world is a much more dangerous place if it does not venture out and assist these failing states.
When a state fails, it creates a vacuum. The people still need these requirements for life; food,
water, protection, etc. If there is nothing to provide it for them, they will take it from others.
This struggle for life creates conflict, and conflicts spread. As the Roman Empire crumbled, its
vacuum created hundreds, if not thousands of conflicts. As the British and French colonial
empires fell, the result was more conflicts (of course, some of these conflicts were former
colonies fighting for independence against the British and French). In recent history, state
failures in Somalia and Sudan have caused untold numbers of deaths through starvation,
genocide, and armed combat. According to The Failing States Index 2007 in Foreign Policy
Magazine July/August 2007, there are over 70 states are considered weak or failing. (See map in
Appendix 1).
Failing states are dangerous to the United States for many reasons, but four stand out: harboring
of terrorism, harboring of criminal organizations, regional instability and disease control.
"The United States and countries cooperating with us must not allow the terrorists to develop
new home bases. Together, we will seek to deny them sanctuary at every tum."} This quote
from the National Security Strategy of2002 was in direct response to the actions of September
I National Security Strategy 2002. Pg 4.
2
11th, 2001. For too long the United States did not pay adequate attention to areas of the world
that were not crucial to the interests of the United States. Humanitarians in the United States
and other countries voiced their concerns to appeal to other citizens' moral conscience, but could
not raise much support if the country was not of economic/ strategic importance. This practice of
ignoring areas of the world can be discussed at length, but it is a practice that the United States
cannot afford to employ anymore. Pearl Harbor shocked a pre-World War II United States into
the realization that it could no longer sit in a defensive position behind the Pacific and Atlantic
and keep the enemy away. After September 11, the United States has relearned the lesson.
Fortress America needs an aggressive "patrolling" plan outside its borders. The United States
must push out into these areas to deny tenorists safe havens and areas in which to recruit, train
and operate freely in. Just as with all organizations, when tenorist organizations are free to
operate, without fear of reprisals, they can plan hideous plots, such as September 11tho In the
worst case scenario, terrorist organizations can set up facilities for producing chemical and
biological weapons. Failing states cannot stop terrorists from using theirterritory to further their
training planning and operations.
War and conflict have caused many states to fail, but economic failure can devastate a country
just as badly. Criminal organizations are stealing revenue from every country in the world.
Through smuggling, counterfeiting, fraud, etc. the world economy is losing money to these
criminals. A criminal doesn't care if a country fails, he will steal every dollar, mark, pound,
ruble he can. Columbia was a very good example of criminals almost taking complete control of
a country. The billions of dollars that the United States has invested in fighting drugs and drug
cartels in Colombia is staggering from 2001 to 2006 the United States gave Colombia
3
$2,667,000,000.2 Transnational crime organizations are used by terrorist organizations to
generate income and smuggle weapons. The concern is now over these organizations being used
to smuggle in chemical/ biological agents and many other items that terrorists can use to attack
the United States and its allies. Failing states cannot stop criminals from using their territory for
theft, drug smuggling, slavery and illegal arms proliferation.
The United States is affected by failing states due to their capacity to weaken large entire
regions. "[F]ailed states represent a threat to U.S. national security is that they often spawn
wider regional conflicts, which can substantially weaken security and retard development in their
sub-regions,,3
These failing states act like a fire in your neighbors' house, if you do nothing your house and
your entire neighborhood may burn. Failing states will cause further regional instability and will
pull other weak states into chaos.
Right now poverty, disease, and humanitarian emergencies are overwhelming weak governments
around the world, Haiti and several Central African countries are near or are past the breaking
point. Poverty causes starvation and forces migration; people leave their homes and try to find
food, work, anything in order to stay alive. Populations shift to areas that may be agriculturally
self sustaining, but food output cannot support the increase in population and this causes famine.
Displaced people move to urban areas in search of work, the urban center cannot provide jobs to
everyone and cannot provide services to this new population. Strong states have trouble dealing
2 USAID, Summary of Foreign Aid
3 Susan E. Rice, Focus on Failed States, Policy Brief #116, The Brookings Institution, February 2003
4
with large population shifts; population shifts can collapse a weak state. Competition for food,
water, and shelter now leads to violence and make the situation worse. Disease knows no
borders, as we have seen from the AIDS virus and Avian influenza (bird flu) has spread rapidly
from areas that are underdeveloped. People afflicted by disease who have no access to medical
help will go in search of it. Through no malice, but simply because they want to survive people
will spread the disease farther and farther. Hurricanes cause unbelievable damage and are
difficult to rebuild in a developed country, but in a weak or failing state a natural disaster can be
truly catastrophic. The earthquakes, monsoons, tsunamis, droughts and other natural disasters
spell doom for failing states. Failing states cannot provide basic human needs for its people,
which will result in disease, famine, drought and forced migration.
It may not be the most glamorous work for the Unites States military, but assisting failing states
appeals to our traditional American values of charity, hope and generosity. It strengthens our
moral leadership as the world's only superpower. The United States has a responsibility to assist
these failing states. If we do not help out, then religious Islamic extremists and criminals
organizations will be able to operate without fear of reprisals and will recruit more and more
people for their group.
The United States Government's Strategy on Engaging Failing States
The National Security Strategy (NSS) of the United States of America outlines the broad vision
about how the United States must assist failing states in order to improve the security of
America. It is a lofty goal, but one that is absolutely necessary in the Global War on Terrorism.
The NSS has been attacked by many critics; Chester Crocker of Georgetown University School
5
of Foreign Service stated in Foreign Affairs, September/October 2003: "The Bush administration
has spoken about the dangers posed by failed and failing states, but it has not made fixing these
trouble spots a top priority, concentrating instead on rogues and weapons of mass destruction.
This error will undermine the administration's broader objective of making the world a safer
place. Washington must develop a coherent and committed strategy to prevent and contain state
failure. Unless it does, the United States will soon face a new set of global challenges and be
overwhelmed. ,,4
Dr. Crocker's statement is a healthy challenge and one that must be answered. The NSS is a fine
starting point, but the United States must take steps from the concept phase to the practical. The
Marine Corps is an organization that can be a key component in the coherent and committed'
strategy to address the dangers of failing states. ,
""When a President sends American tro~p()' to war, a hidden timer starts to run. He has ajznite
period of time to win the war before the people grow weary of it." Richard Nixon 5
This quote by President Nixon speaks volumes about the mindset of the citizens of the United
States. One of the key issues in starting this failing state engagement strategy begins with the
citizens of the United States. The American people must be educated on why we are sending
American military persOlmel/ government employees possibly into harm's way and why we are
investing American tax payers' money into these failing countries. This will be very difficult
task, especially when there are so many Americans who have little patience for domestic welfare
systems. The American public and its leaders must be educated that this is not a short term
4 Chester A. Crocker, Engaging Failing States, Foreign Affairs, Sept/Oct 2003.
5 Richard Nixon, No More Vietnams, (New York, Arbor House) 1985
6
endeavor, but one that is crucial to American security. Assisting failing states is not a something
that can be defined by a decisive victory or by a finite period of time. It is a painstakingly long
process in which the United States may be involved for decades. The Cold War lasted over 70
years and this new Long War will last just as long if not longer. Instead of halting the spread of
communism, the United States is now halting the spread of tenorism, extremism and illicit
activities. There is no simple formula or process to apply and miraculously a failing state is now
quickly restored. There will be a perception within the United States that engaging failing states
will be a hole that we are throwing money and people into with no visible success. It is a
gamble, but one that the government of the United States has committed to and one that is vital
to the United States' security. This preventative strategy is like firefighters who inspect
neighborhoods for hazards, in doing this they prevent fires, but the taxpayers pay him to fight
fires. So if there are no fires, are the firefighters really needed? The answer is yes; prevention
works in fires and failing states. It is much better to prevent a crisis, but everyone must be
prepared for the crisis. This is not an easy concept for the United States because success is
defined by a quick victory. The "hidden timer" that President Nixon talked about cmmot be used
to measure success.
There are many documents that guide the United States in setting policy on how to engage these
failing states. The National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy, the National
Security Presidential Directive - 44, the Department of State and USAID Strategic Plan FY
2007-2012 and many other documents. All of these documents layout concepts on how the
United States will engage failing states and give vague guidance on how the United States
military will be used in these strategic visions. But the US military cannot do this alone; it will
7
need the full support of all the other instruments of national power(diplomatic, informational
and economic).
In the Diplomatic Area, National Security Presidential Directive-44 (NSPD-44), the Secretary of
State "shall coordinate and lead integrated United States Government efforts, involving all U.S.
Department and Agencies with relevant capabilities, to prepare, plan for, and conduct
stabilizations and reconstruction activities.,,6 This means the State Department is the lead agency
in engaging and assisting failing states. The cold hard facts are the US State Department still
runs at the Cold War speed and it severely undermanned. It is not funded, staffed or organized to
quickly comprehend a country's weakness or failure, respond, and then plan a comprehensive
and lasting plan to deal with the failing state. The State Department has taken huge leaps
forward, especially with the establishing of the new Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction
and Stabilization and U.S. Agency for International Development's "Fragile States Strategy".
But the fact is right now, the US military will have to provide a certain level of diplomatic
actions.
The Informational element of National Power is still a work in progress and there is not one
agency in charge of this instrument of national power, nor is there a clear plan for using
information operations. There is much discussion of strategic communications7 and recently the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen released a letter on it, instructing
U.S. military commanders on how impOltant it is to be able to "understand and engage key
6 National Security Presidential Directive - 44
7 Strategic communications is the application of information operations.~
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audiences through coordinated information, themes, plans, programs and actions."s This
foresight by the Chairman is important, but again proving that the US military will have to
provide informational actions.
The Economic element of National Power faces many of the issues that the State department
faces as the Treasury and Commerce Department try to catch up and develop economic policies
for failing states.
So until the other parts of government can become fully engaged, the question still is how does
the US military assist this failing states? The answer is in Department of Defense Directive
3000.05; "Many stability operations are best performed by indigenous, foreign or civilian
professionals. Nonetheless, U.S. Military forces shall be prepared to perform all tasks necessary
to establish or maintain order when civilians cannot do so.,,9 So now the question faced by the
U.S. military now is shall we wait until the rest of the U.S. governmental agencies are ready or
do something now? Engaging failing states is a large problem, one that will not shrink or go
away with time. It is one that will grow and fester until something is done.
The United States military has decided to act, and the Department of Defense has published its
preliminary guidance on how the U.S. military should begin to support operations in failing
states. The document 'Military Support to Stabilization, Security, Transition and Reconstruction
Operations, Joint Operating Concept (Military Support to SSTR Operations, JOC)' mainly
focuses on post conflict Iraq and Afghanistan, but there is a central idea that can be used as a
8 Strategic Communication Memorandum, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 14 Dec. 2007.
9 Department of Defense Directive 3000.05
9
guide for engaging other failing states. The following topics are in the Central idea: 1) Creating
a safe, secure environment; 2) Delivering humanitarian assistance/disaster relief; 3)
Reconstituting critical infrastructure and essential services; 4) Supporting economic
development; 5) Establishing representative, effective government and the rule of law; and 6)
Conduct Strategic communications. These concepts are very important and can assist in
measuring how successful the programs are working in failing states, but do not outline a
specific plan on how to engage failing states.
The United States military doesn't eagerly participate in certain operations; nation building,
humanitarian relief, and peace keeping ate messy operations and many times there is no clear
endstate. An endstate gives purpose to an operation, it focuses the unit. The DOD dictionary
defines endstate as; the clearly defined, decisive, and attainable goal toward which every
operation is directed. Now whether the US military likes its new mission or not, the US military
is being called on to assist weak and failing states around the world. This new mission has a
very hazy endstate, but it does lead back to a more secure United States.
The United States is absolutely committed to promoting democracy, human rights and freedom..
A very difficult part in planning to assist these failing states is we must not use a western lens on
how they should organize or how they should run theirpountries. The goal must be leaders that
are committed to their people and begin to provide their basic needs and rights as human beings,
they are committed to regional stability and they are committed to being a good member of the
international community. Can the United States back a dictator who is working for the good of
his country, but has to suppress dissidents? Can the United States support a communist run or
10
Islamic run (Sharia law) government because they are popularly elected and are rmming the
country effectively? Can we support a country that may have a substantial part of their economy
based on illegal activities? We must be able to answer these questions before we go forward in
these operations to support failing states.
The Marine Corps could spend a lot of time trying to come up with a concept on where to engage
failing states, but the bottom line is the Marine Corps will follow the guidance of the United
States Government and the Combatant Commander's campaign plans on how they wish to
engage failing states.
How to employ the Marine Corps in these Failing States.
Although we will continue to develop ourfull spectrum capabilities, this war will place demandson our Marines that differ significantly from those of the recent past. Paramount a1110ng thesedemands will be the requirement for Marines to train and mentor the security forces ofpartnernations in a manner that empowers their governments to secure their own countries. GeneralJames T. Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps, The Long War Concept, January 2008.
General Conway's statement about empowering other governments to secure their own country
is a telling declaration on how the United States recognizes that the dangers coming from failing
states are real and must be addressed. As discussed earlier, the problems with failing states will
not improve with time, so as Mark Twain said; The secret ofgetting ahead is getting started. The
secret ofgetting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable
tasks, and then starting on the first one.
The Marine Corps has taken a look into this overwhelming task of engaging failing states and
broken it down into smaller more manageable pieces. The Marine Corps has decided that they
11
will work the issue of security. In the Marine Corps' Long War ConceptlO, the Security
Cooperation Marine Air Ground Task Force (SCMAGTF) has been established to train and
mentor the security forces of partner nations in a manner that empowers their governments to
secure their own countries. Just as the Marine Corps has always preached, the Marine Corps
wins battles and the Army wins the wars. The Marine Corps can be the initial force into a failing
state, and its primary focus will be security and assisting in training local security forces. But the
Marine Corps is not capable of handling everything and it will need many reinforcements to deal
with the requirements of failed state engagement. Just as in the past, the Marine Corps
continuously had Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs) deployed. Now the Marine Corps will
continuously have these SCMAGTF deployed forward to demonstrate to our potential friends
that the United States is there to help.
The SCMAGTF will be built around an infantry battalion, with integrated air and logistics\
support (See Appendix 4 for SCMAGTF organization). In appearance it will look very similar to
a MEU, but the focus will be on building partner nation security capacity and supporting partner
nation security efforts. The majority of security cooperation training and operations will be
provided by the infantry battalion Marines. The logistics unit will focus on supporting the
SCMAGTF personnel, but will be reinforced with civil-military operations personnel, a robust
engineering capability11 , enhanced Medical and Dental capabilities (to provide
MEDCAPIDENCAP services for indigenous personnel) operational law, veterinary services 12,
10 The Long War Concept, Send in the Marines. A Marine Corps Operational Employment Concept to meet anUncertain Security Environment. February 2008.
11 This robust engineering capability may be augmented with U.S. Navy Construction Battalions (SeaBees).
12 Providing veterinary services to indigenous populations can be essential if animals are still a crucial part of the
local economic system.
12
iI
information operations, and interagency liaisons. The air component will be a task-organized
squadron, but again focused on the mobility of the SCMAGTF, reconnaissance and force
protection.
The SCMAGTF will be staffed with former foreign area officers (FAO) and regional affairs
officers (RAO) who are familiar with the country that the SCMAGTF deploys into. Linguists
and if possible Marines who are from the country or are native speakers of languages in the
country will be assigned to the SCMAGTF The SCMAGTF's training focus will remain on
conventional operations, but will have specialized training in order to teach partner nations how
to improve their internal defense. The SCMAGTF will also have a strong cultural and language
training programs to prepare Marines for interacting with local populations in failing states.
In the 6 phases in the Joint Continuum of Military Operations13 , the United States military has
mastered Phase 3 and no force on earth will stand toe to toe with the United States military, but
as we engage failing states we must concentrate on Phase 0, 1,4, 5 and 6. The SCMAGTF will
have its most influential role in Phase°operations. It will be some time before the United States
government can apply all elements of national power in a concerted effort, so if the SCMAGTF
can buy time and begin working now to secure pathways and footholds into countries now vice
postponing and delaying. The SCMAGTF will be a crucial part of the forward presence and
persistent engagement of the United States policies. As important, but not as advertised will be
the intelligence gained by the SCMAGTF. The SCMAGTF will enable Regional Combatant
Commander an increased situational awareness in the region.
13 Phase 0 is shaping the environment, Phase 1 is deterring the enemy, Phase 2 is seizing the initiative, Phase 3 is
dominating the enemy, Phase 4 is stabilizing the environment and Phase 5 is enabling civil authority.
13
Once Marines have begun to engage a failing state, there are certain principles that all Marines
must adhere to when participating in these operations.
1. Ensure all Marines understand the mission. Marines are absolutely amazing young men
and women. Professionals, who will do everything and anything they are told to do. In
order to do their job correctly, they must be educated on why they are performing their
mission and fully informed on the entire mission.
2. Manage expectations. As operations begin in failing states there will be expectations on
the competency of the local security forces, government officials, police, etc. This must
be avoided and Marines must go into the situation with an open mind. Some local
customs are perceived as corruption to westerners, but to the locals it is good maImers~
The expectation must be an understanding on what is essential to the mission and what is
a nuisance. In some failing states, the leaders will be so called warriors who are not
rational actors. Ralph Peters wrote in his article The New Warrior Class; "Unlike
soldiers, warriors do not play by our rules, do not respect treaties, and do not obey orders
they do not like." 14 This is not an easy concept for Marines to deal with, but it is a reality
that they will face. Marines must go into operations with an understanding that previous
expectations may not be fully met, but the overall intent for the mission is successful.
3. Intelligence collection. This is a key concept because measuring the effects of
programs is very difficult. Intelligence is an area that is constantly pointed to as
a weakness. But it is only a weakness when commanders ask for the wrong
information and focus their intelligence specialists into areas that are not
14 Ralph Peters, The New Warrior Class, Parameters, Summer 1996.
14
important. On a range every Marine is a safety officer; in operations every
Marine is an intelligence collector. Every Marine can help develop the
intelligence picture on key ethnic, cultural, tribal, economic and political
relationships, non-military security forces, infrastructure, sanitation and health
structure, munitions facilities, border controls and customs processes. An
effective system requires not just collection of information from multiple sources
some degree of redundancy is essential) but also processing, classifying,
evaluating, storing, and retrieving information. 15
4. Embrace Non Governmental Organizations. Non Governmental Organizations
are organization created by private persons or organizations with no participation
or representation of any government. These organizations try to improve the
welfare of poverty stricken nations, ensure human rights, distribute humanitarian
aid and a myriad of other benevolent actions. Several of these organizations are
very leery of the United States military and will go out of their way not to deal
with the United States military. 16 Some will only deal with the U.S. military if
they need security for their convoys or distribution centers.
5. Balance of strength and compassion. When the Marine Corps is sent into a
country there must be a balancing act. Most cultures have a preconceived notion
on what masculinity is and how a man acts. If you act to weak you will be taken
advantage of, if you act to strong you will destroy relationships. In Bosnia, the
United Nations forces were perceived as weak and Serbs, Croats and Muslims
15 Nathan Leites and Charles Wolf Jr., Rebellion and Authority: An Analytic Essay on Insurgent Conflicts (RAND
Corporation, Report R.-462-ARPA, February 1970.
16 Some NGGs have charters that do not allow them to wo,rk with military forces at all.
15
commandeered over 500 United Nations vehicles. 17 Then acting too strong as the
Marine who shot and killed the boy who stole his sunglasses in Somalia, will
never foster relationships
6. Cultural awareness saves lives. hl many areas of the world, honor is more
important than money or even a life. Insulting or slighting an individual can
cause him to turn to violence. If a foreigner came to a town in the United States
who spoke English, understood the law, traffic rules and social interactions. He
would have very little problems. Think about how you act and speak.
7. Higher headquarters may not have the best plan, so everyone should be thinking
of better ways to do the job. Sharing thoughts and planning are important and
will help the overall mission, but execution must be well coordinated.
8. The effect of your operation is not measured in how well you think you did, but
how local people feel you did. There are many terms 'effects base operations' ,
'winning hearts and minds' and many others. The fight is not on a set enemy or
based on gaining terrain, it is based with the people and winning the people's
support and establishing friendships and relationships is the goal in the failing
states engagement plan.
9. Money is a two way blade it can hurt as well as help. Economics is a way that
local leaders keep control over their people. They control all economic aspects
and that is a way that they extend their influence. When you buy things or build
things and inject money into the system, it may appear to help the population, but
it can also hurt you relationships with local leaders.
17 David Rohde. Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica, Europe's Worse Massacre since World War n.
16
10. The local population may want to help you, but remember that anyone who helps
you may become a target for the enemy. There is a "kiss of death syndrome" that
the United States military forces must be aware of. The US military will surge in
and attempt or persuade the local population to work with the US military, then
the security will be relaxed and insurgents return and kill ail the people who
cooperated.
The Danger of Dealing with Failing States.
Danger is part of the friction ofwar. Without an accurate conception ofdanger we cannotunderstand war. Carl Von Clausewitz. On War, pg. 114.
Even though Clausewitz is describing war, it is a phenomenal piece of advice that states nothing
can be fully comprehended without carefully examining the dangers involved. The engagement
of failing states and follow up operations that will be conducted in these countries caml0t be
entered into lightly. These operations are truly extensive operations, operations that will cost in
massive investment of money, manpower and time. Stabilization operations are very labor,
intensive. "The United States will sometimes have ambitious goals for transforming a society in
a conflicted environment. Those goals may well demand 20 troops per 1,000 inhabitants ...
working for five to eight years. Given that we may have three to five stabilization and
reconstruction activities underway concurrently, it is clear that very substantial resources are
needed to accomplish national objectives. 18 To fully understand the numbers that may have to be
committed to failing states see Appendix 2. Other dangers faced by engaging in failing states
will be perceptions from the local populations that the United States will leave if it gets too
expensive in money or lives, like in Somalia, Vietnam, or Lebanon. This will have a very
18 U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Science Bound, 2004 Summer Study on Transition to and from Hostilities,
December 2004, http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reportsI2004-12-DSB_SS_ReporcFinal.pdf
17
negative effect when U.S. Military forces try to get volunteers and/or cooperation from local
leaders. Local people will not want to waste their time or cooperate with the United States
military if they will just leave under pressure. For operations in failing states will need going to
leave. As the United States enters into these failing states, it must be acknowledged that some
problems are so complex that there is no solution to them. Sometimes just getting to a point that
the problem has been solved "enough" or just the situation has improved is a success.
The Marine Corps cmmot lose its focus on warfighting. As we are seeing today in Afghanistan,
our allies are more comfortable doing policing type actions and are not eager to participate in
combat operations. The Marine Corps must keep its warfighting skills in top order; it is much
~asier to throttle down a highly trained infantry Marine that to try to throttle up a social worker.
The Marine Corps is built on a warfighter tradition, and even though this paper discusses a
"softer side" of the Marine Corps and assistance to failing states, the bayonets must stay sharp.
Conclusion: You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do. Henry Ford
The National Strategy for Combating Terrorism states that the United States will continue to lead
an expansive international effort in pursuit of a two-pronged vision:
• The defeat of violent extremism as a threat to our way of life as a free and open society;
and
• The creation of a global environment inhospitable to violent extremists and all who
support them.
18
To create this global environment, the United States has committed itself to help failing states.
This is for many other reasons to include; preventing dangerous conditions in these failing states
from harming the United States and/or its allies, to prevent regional instability and conflict, and
to show that the United States is a compassionate country that is truly concerned with human
suffering. In this commitment the United States will rely on the United States Marine Corps to
take a lead in this commitment. The Marine Corps has the infrastructure, historical background,
organization, and adaptability handle this unique mission. In order to complete this mission of
assisting failing states, it must be looked at as a continuous operation and not a campaign. This
is an operation that will be needed for decades. Preventing conflicts has always been preferred
to fighting them, by pushing out now with a strong mix of all the elements of the United States'
power and start building (or rebuilding) the reputation that the United States is working to build
allies and not colonies. Hope is not an option for planning military operations, but bringing
hope to people will be a crucial part of military operations in the future.
19
BIBILIOGRAPHY
Amnesty International, "Unmatched Power, Unmet Principles: The Human Rights Dimensionsof US Training of Foreign Military, Security and Police Forces", Amnesty International USAPublications, March 2002.
Christopher J. Coyne, "Reconstructing Weak and Failed States: Foreign Intervention and theNirvana Fallacy", Foreign Policy Analysis (2006)
Chester A. Crocker, "Engaging Failing States", Foreign Affairs, September/October 2003
Stuart E. Eizenstat and John Edward Porter, "Weak States are a US Security Threat", Center forGlobal Development Point Paper, 2004.
Lora Lumpe, with contributions by Frida Benigan, Kurt Biddle, John Gershman, and IngridVaicius, "u.s. Foreign Military Training: Global Reach, Global Power, and Oversight Issues",Foreign Policy In Focus, May 2002
Moises Nairn, Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats are Hijacking the GlobalEconomy, (Angola, IN Anchor Publishing, 2006.)
Richard Nixon, No More Vietnams (New York: Arbor House, 1985)
Susan E. Rice, "Focus on Failed States", Policy Brief #116, The Brookings Institution, February2003
William M. Wise, "American Perspectives on the Threat Posed by Weak and Failing AsianStates", The U.S.-China Conference on Areas of Instability and Emerging Threats, Beijing,February 23-24, 2004.
Liana Sun Wyler, "Weak and Failing States: Evolving Security Threats and U.S. Policy", OrderCode RL34253 CRC Report to Congress, November 15, 2007
Marine Corps Combat Development Command, MCDP 1-0, Marine Corps Operations.Washington, DC: Department of the Navy, 2001.
Marine Corps Combat Development Command, FMFRP 12-15, Small Wars Manual, U.S.Marine Corps, Reprint of 1940 edition. Washington, DC: Department of the Navy, 1987.
Marine Corps Combat Development Command, A Tentative Manualfor Countering IrregularThreats. Washington, DC: Department of the Navy, 2006
"Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower", October 2007 Online at:http://www.navy.mil/maritime/MaritimeStrategy.pdf
Long War Concept Force Employment Concept Publication, Jan 3,2008.
Department of Defense Directive 3000.05. Military Support for Stability, Security, Transitionand Reconstruction (SSTR) Operations, November 28,2005
Strategic Communications Memorandum, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 14 Dec 2007.
National Security Presidential Directive- 44 (NSPD-44): Management of Interagency EffortsConcerning Reconstruction and Stabilization December 7, 2005
USAID, Summary of US Foreign Aid. Online at:http://www.usaid.gov/policy/par06/USAID_PAR06_Financial.pdf
The National Security Strategy of the United States of America, March 2002.
The National Security Strategy of the United States of America, March 2006.
The National Strategy for Combating Terrorism, September 2006
National Defense Strategy of the United States of America, March 2005
National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism, February 2006
Military Support to Stabilization, Security, Transition and Reconstruction Operations, JointOperating Concept (Military Support to SSTR Operations, JOC), November 2005
Department of State and USAID Strategic Plan FY 2007-2012. Online at:http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/dosstrat/2007/
,, .
Appendix 1
APPENDIX 2
"Critical" Failed States with Defense Science Board Estimations for Troops Needed
CountryCote d'IvoireDem. Rep. of the CongoSudanIraqSomaliaSierra LeoneChadYemenLiberiaHaitiAfghanistanRwandaNorth KoreaColombiaZimbabweGuineaBangladeshBurundiDominican RepublicCentral African Republic
Ranking1234567891011121314151617181920
Population17,298,04060,085,804
40,187,48626,074,9068,591,6296,017,6439,826,41920,727,0633,482,2118,121,62229,928,9878,440,82022,912,17742,954,27912,746,9909,467,866144,319,6286,370,6098,950,0343,799,897
Troops Required forAmbitious Goals Less Ambitious Goals
345,961 86,4901,201,716 300,429803,750 200,937521,498 130,375171,833 42,958120,353 30,088196,528 49,132414,541 103,63569,644 17,411162,432 40,608598,580 149,645168,816 42,2044~8,244 114,561859,086 214,771254,940 63,735189,357 47,3392,886,393 721,598127,412 31,853179,001 44,75075,998 18,999
Population figures from CIAWorld Factbook, online at http://cia.gov/cialpublications/factbook."Ambitious goals" equal 20 troops per 1,000 indigens."Less ambitious goals" equal 5 troops per 1,000 indigens.
APPENDIX 3
Definitions of Government Documents
The National Security Strategy of the United States of America is a document prepared
periodically by the executive branch of the government of the United States for congress which
outlines the major national security concerns of the United States and how the administration
plans to deal with them.
The National Strategy for Combating Terrorism is a document that outlines the United States
government's plan for fighting tenorism.
National Security Presidential Directive is a Presidential Decision in the area of National
Security.
National Defense Strategy of the United States of America is a document preparedperiodically by the Department of Defense which outlines how the United States military will be
employed to defend the United States. It should be nested within the National Security Strategy.
National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism is a document that outlines theUnited States military's plan for fighting tenorism.
Military Support to Stabilization, Security, Transition and Reconstruction Operations,Joint Operating Concept (Military Support to SSTR Operations, JOC) is a document thatwas published by the Department of Defense to outline how the United States military would
support the United States government's plan for dealing with failing or failed states.
Department of State and USAID Strategic Plan FY 2007·2012 sets forth the Secretary ofState's direction and priorities for both organizations in the coming years. The Strategic Plan
supports the policy positions set forth by the 2006 National Security Strategy and presents howthe Department and USAID will implement U.S. foreign policy and development assistance.
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